This is basically that energy which gives life on the physical plane.
It begins in the sun and is filtered through the etheric living body of planet earth. We receive some prana directly from the sun but most of it is stepped down earthy prana through the food we eat, the air we breath and the grass and earth we touch with our bare feet. The flow of prana can be enhanced through meditation and focussed attention. It can be directed through the power of the third eye focused on various centers.
To get the prana necessary for good health one should do the following:
(1) Get some sunshine, daily if possible, but not too much as it is possible to get too much of a good thing with this powerful source.
Looking at the sun near sunset or sunrise for short periods also increases the flow.
(2) Food supplies the most prana when it is in its natural uncooked state. Eat as much raw fruits and vegetables possible and do not overcook your meat unless you think it may be contaminated. Eat as many sprouts as possible. Sprout your own as anything you raise yourself is better suited to your own energy flow.
(3) Learn to breathe deeply. You should breathe ten breaths a minute or less. The average is 15-18. I breathe about 6 when sitting.
(4) Walking on Mother earth in bare feet helps the flow of prana. Walking on grass is particularly helpful.
Definition by JJ Dewey
Thousands of teachings available at: Freeread.com
Some quotes from Djwhal Khul
Other groups have the task of working with the energy which is the well known and much discussed prana or life energy - the energy of vitality. The right use of the pranic energies (and they are seven in number) will most assuredly dissipate disease and bodily ills and will cure the pains of the human physical vehicle.
Discipleship in the New Age I, P 70
Unevolved or savage man responds simply to prana or physical energy, vitalizing the appetites of the lower nature, developing the instincts and thus laying the foundation of a physical vehicle as the outer garment of the soul. At this stage, intellect is embryonic; the physical appetites and the five senses are dominating factors. All this is due to the activity of prana as it pours through the etheric or vital body.
Discipleship in the New Age I, P 697
Yet the results of their application to science or their accumulation of the crystallized prana of the financial world are turned to the helping of mankind.
Discipleship in the New Age II, P 337
As with the work of the other groups, the task to be carried out falls into three categories of endeavor:
The effort to understand the nature of prana or of vital etheric energy, and the three qualities which distinguish it; these are (as you well know) inertia, activity and rhythm or - giving them their Hindu names - tamas, rajas and sattva. When the mineral wealth of the world was undiscovered and unused, we had the stage of tamas at its deepest and most inert point. Much concerning money today is related to the karma and destiny of the mineral kingdom. With this, however, we need not here concern ourselves. The processes of the pranic life were originally carried out in the realm of barter and the exchange of that which is found upon the surface of the earth and later went down into the depths, thus bringing into fluidity the deepest and densest expression (from the human standpoint) of divinity. This is a point to be remembered.
Today the process is being reversed and money is connected with the produce of the vegetable kingdom in the form of paper money, founded upon the mineral wealth of the world. This is an interesting subjective reality to have in mind.
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, P 59
The energy of prana; this is the life-giving energy from the Sun which deals out both life and death, health and disease, according to the quality of the substance or material form upon which it makes its impact. This impact and its results are today entirely automatic in application and effectiveness, and are regarded as functioning "below the threshold of the consciousness" of humanity, and necessarily of the Hierarchy. Its rhythm is established and its effects are well known and proven. The direction of this energy will eventually be in the hands of that great planetary center, Humanity; therefore, to mankind will then be committed the responsibility for its distribution to the subhuman kingdoms in nature.
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, P 655
The internal fires that animate and vitalize shew themselves in a twofold manner:
[...]
Second, as active heat. This results in the activity and the driving forward of material evolution. On the highest plane the combination of these three factors (active heat, latent heat and the primordial substance which they animate) is known as the 'sea of fire,' of which akasha is the first differentiation of pregenetic matter. Akasha, in manifestation, expresses itself as Fohat, or divine Energy, and Fohat on the different planes is known as aether, air, fire, water, electricity, ether, prana and similar terms. 9, 10, 11 It is the sumtotal of that which is active, animated, or vitalized, and of all that concerns itself with the adaptation of the form to the needs of the inner flame of life.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 43
There is Internal Vitalizing Fire, which is the correspondence to fire by friction. This is the sumtotal of individual kundalini; it animates the corporeal frame and demonstrates also in the twofold manner:
First, as latent heat which is the basis of life of the spheroidal cell, or atom, and of its rotary adjustment to all other cells.
Second, as active heat or prana; this animates all, and is the driving force of the evolving form. It shows itself in the four ethers and in the gaseous state, and a correspondence is here found on the physical plane in connection with man to the Akasha and its fivefold manifestation on the plane of the solar system.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 45
In the etheric body, which is an exact replica of its denser counterpart, we have the organ of active or radiatory fire, and, as is well known, the vehicle of prana.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 57
That emanation of the planet which we might term Planetary Prana. It is that which is referred to when one speaks of the health-giving qualities of Mother Nature, and which is back of the cry of the modern physician, when he wisely says "Back to the Earth." It is the fluidic emanation of this prana which acts upon the physical body, though in this case not via the etheric body. It is absorbed through the skin purely and the pores are its line of least resistance.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 61
c. The Man. At the base of the spine lie hid the fires of the human system, or the internal fires of the Microcosm. The center is located there, and from it the radiations go forth along the three channels, recognizable in the spine.
Bodily warmth, the channel along which the heat radiates...
Nervous response. This is the vitalizing tenuous fluid which applies itself to the stimulation of the nervous centers...
Pranic emanation. The emanation, via the etheric body, which corresponds in man to solar prana and to planetary prana. This demonstrates principally in the health aura and has naught to do with magnetic qualities, as generally interpreted when considering a personality, or man as a unit. I make this repetition as it is very necessary that no mental confusion exists between that magnetism which is a spiritual emanation and that which is purely animal.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 62
In the study of the etheric body and prana lies the revelation of the effects of those rays of the sun which (for lack of better expression), we will call "solar pranic emanations." These solar pranic emanations are the produced effect of the central heat of the sun approaching other bodies within the solar system by one of the three main channels of contact, and producing on the bodies then contacted certain effects differing somewhat from those produced by the other emanations. These effects might be considered as definitely stimulating and constructive, and (through their essential quality) as producing conditions that further the growth of cellular matter, and concern its adjustment to environing conditions; they concern likewise the internal health (demonstrating as the heat of the atom and its consequent activity) and the uniform evolution of the form of which that particular atom of matter forms a constituent part. Emanative prana does little in connection with form building; that is not its province, but it conserves the form through the preservation of the health of its component parts. Other rays of the sun act differently, upon the forms and upon their substance. Some perform the work of the Destroyer of forms, and others carry on the work of cohering and of attracting; the work of the Destroyer and of the Preserver is carried on under the Law of Attraction and Repulsion. Some rays definitely produce accelerated motion, others produce retardation. The ones we are dealing with here - pranic solar emanations - work within the four ethers, that matter which (though physical) is not as yet objectively visible to the eye of man. They are the basis of all physical plane life considered solely in connection with the life of the physical plane atoms of matter, their inherent heat and their rotary motion. These emanations are the basis of that "fire by friction" which demonstrates in the activity of matter. Finally, in the study of the etheric body and prana comes comprehension of the method of logoic manifestation, and therefore much of interest to the metaphysician, and all abstract thinkers. The etheric body of man holds hid the secret of his objectivity. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire P 78
The etheric body of man receives prana in different ways and of different kinds, and all these ways bring him into touch with varying entities.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 90
Solar Prana
This is that vital and magnetic fluid which radiates from the sun, and which is transmitted to man's etheric body through the agency of certain deva entities of a very high order, and of a golden hue. It is passed through their bodies and emitted as powerful radiations, which are applied direct through certain plexi in the uppermost part of the etheric body, the head and shoulders, and passed down...
...Man therefore repeats on a lesser scale the work of the great solar devas, and in his turn adds his quota of repolarized or remagnetized emanation to the sumtotal of the planetary aura.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 90
Planetary Prana
This is the vital fluid emanated from any planet, which constitutes its basic coloring or quality, and is produced by a repetition within the planet of the same process which is undergone in connection with man and solar prana. The planet (the Earth, or any other planet) absorbs solar prana, assimilates, what is required, and radiates off that which is not essential to its well-being in the form of planetary radiation. Planetary prana, therefore, is solar prana which has passed throughout the planet, has circulated through the planetary etheric body, has been transmitted to the dense physical planet, and has been cast off thence in the form of a radiation of the same essential character as solar prana, plus the individual and distinctive quality of the particular planet concerned. This again repeats the process undergone in the human body...
...Planetary emanative prana (as in the case of solar prana) is caught up and transmitted via a particular group of devas, called the "devas of the shadows," who are ethereal devas of a slightly violet hue.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 91
Primarily the functions of the etheric body are three in number:
It is the receiver of prana.
It is the assimilator of prana.
It is the transmitter of prana.
The mysterious band in the heavens, which we call the Milky Way, (S. D. II. 250) is closely connected with cosmic prana, or that cosmic vitality or nourishment which vitalizes the solar etheric system.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 97
Prana, therefore, which is active radiatory heat, varies in vibration and quality according to the receiving Entity. Man passes the prana through his etheric vehicle, colors it with his own peculiar quality, and so transmits it to the lesser lives that make up his little system Thus, the great interaction goes on, and all parts blend, merge and are interdependent; and all parts receive, color, qualify and transmit. An endless circulation goes on that has neither a conceivable beginning nor possible end from the point of view of finite man, for its source and end are hid in the unknown cosmic fount. Were conditions everywhere perfected this circulation would proceed unimpeded and might result in a condition of almost endless duration, but limitation and termination result as the effects of imperfection giving place to a gradual perfection. Every cycle originates from an other cycle of a relative completeness, and will give place ever to a higher spiral; thus eventuate periods of apparent relative perfection leading to those which are still greater.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 101
The love aspect shows itself through the heart, the circulatory system and the nervous system. This is in many ways most important for you to understand, for it controls paramountly the etheric body and its assimilation of prana or vitality. This prana works through both the blood and the nerves, for the life force uses the blood stream and psychic force works through the nervous system. These two departments of the human organism are those which cause the greatest amount of trouble at this time and will even more in the future.
Esoteric Healing, P 106
...The spleen, the organ of prana or of physical vitality coming from the sun...
Esoteric Healing P 177
Prana is the name given to the energy which is drawn upon the physical plane from the etheric aspect of all phenomenal life. That etheric aspect of the divine energy is a synthesis of energies. If the energy in which an individual primarily lives and moves and has the focus of his being is, for instance, predominantly astral, then the major expression of energy in his equipment will be astral or emotional feeling energy. He will react all the time to physical energy or prana and to astral energy or the many sentient emotional forces. These work out pre-eminently through the spleen, the solar plexus and the throat, and affect in different ways the physical spleen, the stomach and the thyroid gland.
Esoteric Healing, P 328
DK said, "You can discover much on the nature of prana if you use the books which you possess and should possess. In my book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, pages 77-116, and in A.A.B.'s book The Light of the Soul, pages 77, 217-225, 280-282, 328-330, 332, the whole subject is considered."
Ruth writes:
Life
Prana
"Prana (Sanskrit) [from pra before + the verbal root an to breathe, live]
In theosophy, the breath of life; the third principle in the ascending scale of the sevenfold human constitution. This life or prana works on, in, and around us, pulsating unceasingly during the term of physical existence. Prana is "the radiating force or Energy of Atma -- as the Universal Life and the One Self, -- Its lower or rather (in its effects) more physical, because manifesting, aspect. Prana or Life permeates the whole being of the objective Universe; and is called a 'principle' only because it is an indispensable factor and the deus ex machina of the living man" (Key 176).
......but strictly prana means outbreathing. ...
.....Hence Blavatsky said that jiva becomes prana when the child is born and begins to breathe."
Bryan writes:
"Prana might be defined as the life-essence of every plane in the sevenfold area which we call the cosmic physical plane."
(Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle, page 155, by Alice A. Bailey)
[Begin Definition]
Prana:
Overall or generally speaking it appears that when the word Prana is used, it is used as meaning the sum total of all energy in "the body."
Here are some words and/or terms that are synonymous with Prana:
Vital Breath
Life Principle
The Life Principle Of Energy
Vital Animating Substance
Creative Fires
Creative Energy
Life Force
Radiatory Fires Of The Body
Active Radiatory Matter
Solar Rays
Vital Essence From The Sun
Life Currents
There are four basic types of prana spoken of in AAB/DK works: Cosmic, Solar, Planetary or Human (and Atomic). It appears that there is a hierarchial, top down "order of flow" of Prana -- with each "body" taking in the type and/or kind of Prana it is designed for, distributing and/or using it, and then radiating it to and for the next level below it.
Prana is essentially that energy/force which is received by the etheric body, and then transmitted to the dense physical body where it acts, among other things, as an "animating agent."
Prana creates the "health aura" of the human body.
"Heat" is the actual radiatory energy which man transmits as healing energy.
Prana is one of the seven principles that man needs to concern themselves with -- in this instance, the right use of Prana.
Prana is the lowest manifestation of constructive energy, in the manifestation of the Logoic Body.
Prana drives material evoluation forward.
Prana is part of the lower quaternary.
It appears that there is a strong and even direct correspondence to money, monetary exchange, and the "chrysallization" of prana.
It is one of the seven major types of energy used by The Hierarchy use to stimlate the "science of impression."
Prana is the way we and other "bodies" maintain "contact" with each other.
[End Of Definition]
What follows are quotations I encountered in the works/writings/ teachings of AAB/DK that I thought were helpful, or simply interesting:
[Begin Quotes]
"Prana is the sum total of the energy in the body (and this applies equally to the planetary and the solar body). It therefore concerns the inflow of energy into the etheric body and its outflow through the medium of the physical body. In the physical body this is symbolized for us in the necessary inspiration and exhalation of the breath. By stressing the physical act of breathing, much of the true sense of this sutra has been lost.
"Prana is not breath, though it is usually so translated. It is the sum total of the cosmic energy."
("The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 2," Page 218, by Alice A. Bailey)
"That emanation of the planet which we might term Planetary Prana. It is that which is referred to when one speaks of the health-giving qualities of Mother Nature, and which is back of the cry of the modern physician, when he wisely says 'Back to the Earth.' It is the fluidic emanation of this prana which acts upon the physical body, though in this case not via the etheric body. It is absorbed through the skin purely and the pores are its line of least resistance."
("A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," Page 61, by Alice A. Bailey)
"It is the misuse of the life breath or wrong utilization of prana that is the cause of eighty per cent of the present physical diseases. The other twenty per cent is produced through ill directed life force through the centers, and attacks primarily the twenty per cent of humanity which can be called mentally polarized. The clue for the student of occultism who aspires to liberation is not to be found in breathing exercises, however, nor in any work with the seven centers in the body. It will be found in an intense inner concentration upon rhythmic living and in the careful organization of the life. As he does this, coordination of the subtler bodies with the physical body on the one hand, and with the soul on the other, will eventuate in the automatic subsequent adjustment of pranic and vital energies."
("The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 1," Page 72, by Alice A. Bailey)
"The Pleiades - though they are regarded as embodying the matter aspect in manifestation - are in reality and literally the expression of that Principle of Life which we call vitality, prana in its various stages or degrees, ether or substance."
("Esoteric Astrology," Page 504, by Alice A. Bailey)
"The deva and human evolution will, during the next five hundred years, become somewhat more conscious of each other, and be able therefore more freely to cooperate. With this growing consciousness will be found a seeking after methods of communication. When the need of communication for constructive ends is sincerely felt, then, under the judicious guidance of the Masters, will certain of the old mantrams be permitted circulation. Their action, interaction and reaction will be closely studied and watched. It is hoped that the benefit to both groups will be mutual. The human evolution should give strength to the deva, and the deva, joy to the human. Man should communicate to the devas the objective point of view, while they in turn will pour in on him their healing magnetism. They are the custodians of prana, magnetism and vitality, just as man is the custodian of the fifth principle, or manas. I have given several hints here and more is not possible."
("Letters on Occult Meditation," Page 183, by Alice A. Bailey)
The thing that I forgot to add, is that while I am sure there is some quote somewhere in the works, writings and teachings of AAB/DK that states WHERE the/this "Cosmic Prana" come/eminates from, I didn't come across it, and can only guess that as "prana" is associated with "eminations" from "a/the sun," then I suspect that "Cosmic Prana" eminates/originates from the (Cosmic) or Esoteric (Spiritual) Sun -- or what is referred to as The One Great Life?
Tom writes:
I read that Prana is similar to chi. I remember reading that somewhere.
Bryan adds:
Previously I wrote:
"Then I suspect that 'Cosmic Prana' eminates/originates from the (Cosmic) or Esoteric (Spiritual) Sun -- or what is referred to as The One Great Life?"
But after researching the topic of "Agni" -- and learned of the/Its association with The Spiritual Sun, then, it -- Agni, The Lord Of Fire, may be the spiritual sun from which cosmic prana eminates/radiates.
Dunno for sure, tho.
I also forgot to include what I believe is an important quote from AAB/DK that describes Prana:
"One term applied to this energy [Prana] is the 'vital airs.' Prana is fivefold in its manifestation, thus corresponding to the five states of mind, the fifth principle and to the five modifications of the thinking principle. Prana in the solar system works out as the five great states of energy which we call planes, the medium of consciousness; these are:
"1. The atmic or spiritual plane,
"2. The buddhic or intuitional plane,
"3. The mental plane,
"4. The emotional, astral or kamic plane,
"5. The physical plane.
"The five differentiations of prana in the human body are:
"Prana, extending from the nose to the heart and having special relation to the mouth and speech, the heart and lungs.
"Samana extends from the heart to the solar plexus; it concerns food and the nourishing of the body through the medium of food and drink and has a special relation to the stomach.
"Apana controls from the solar plexus to the soles of the feet; it concerns the organs of elimination, of rejection and of birth, thus having special relation to the organs of generation and of elimination.
"Upana is found between the nose and the top of the head; it has a special relation to the brain, the nose and the eyes, and when properly controlled produces the coordination of the vital airs and their correct handling.
"Vyana is the term applied to the sum total of pranic, energy as it is distributed evenly throughout the entire body. Its instruments are the thousands of nadis or nerves found in the body, and it has a peculiar definite connection with the blood channels, the veins and arteries."
("The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 3," pgs 329-330, by AAB)
Prana
This is basically that energy which gives life on the physical plane.
It begins in the sun and is filtered through the etheric living body of planet earth. We receive some prana directly from the sun but most of it is stepped down earthy prana through the food we eat, the air we breath and the grass and earth we touch with our bare feet. The flow of prana can be enhanced through meditation and focussed attention. It can be directed through the power of the third eye focused on various centers.
To get the prana necessary for good health one should do the following:
(1) Get some sunshine, daily if possible, but not too much as it is possible to get too much of a good thing with this powerful source.
Looking at the sun near sunset or sunrise for short periods also increases the flow.
(2) Food supplies the most prana when it is in its natural uncooked state. Eat as much raw fruits and vegetables possible and do not overcook your meat unless you think it may be contaminated. Eat as many sprouts as possible. Sprout your own as anything you raise yourself is better suited to your own energy flow.
(3) Learn to breathe deeply. You should breathe ten breaths a minute or less. The average is 15-18. I breathe about 6 when sitting.
(4) Walking on Mother earth in bare feet helps the flow of prana. Walking on grass is particularly helpful.
Definition by JJ Dewey
Thousands of teachings available at: Freeread.com
Some quotes from Djwhal Khul
Other groups have the task of working with the energy which is the well known and much discussed prana or life energy - the energy of vitality. The right use of the pranic energies (and they are seven in number) will most assuredly dissipate disease and bodily ills and will cure the pains of the human physical vehicle.
Discipleship in the New Age I, P 70
Unevolved or savage man responds simply to prana or physical energy, vitalizing the appetites of the lower nature, developing the instincts and thus laying the foundation of a physical vehicle as the outer garment of the soul. At this stage, intellect is embryonic; the physical appetites and the five senses are dominating factors. All this is due to the activity of prana as it pours through the etheric or vital body.
Discipleship in the New Age I, P 697
Yet the results of their application to science or their accumulation of the crystallized prana of the financial world are turned to the helping of mankind.
Discipleship in the New Age II, P 337
As with the work of the other groups, the task to be carried out falls into three categories of endeavor:
- The effort to understand the nature of prana or of vital etheric energy, and the three qualities which distinguish it; these are (as you well know) inertia, activity and rhythm or - giving them their Hindu names - tamas, rajas and sattva. When the mineral wealth of the world was undiscovered and unused, we had the stage of tamas at its deepest and most inert point. Much concerning money today is related to the karma and destiny of the mineral kingdom. With this, however, we need not here concern ourselves. The processes of the pranic life were originally carried out in the realm of barter and the exchange of that which is found upon the surface of the earth and later went down into the depths, thus bringing into fluidity the deepest and densest expression (from the human standpoint) of divinity. This is a point to be remembered.
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, P 59Today the process is being reversed and money is connected with the produce of the vegetable kingdom in the form of paper money, founded upon the mineral wealth of the world. This is an interesting subjective reality to have in mind.
The energy of prana; this is the life-giving energy from the Sun which deals out both life and death, health and disease, according to the quality of the substance or material form upon which it makes its impact. This impact and its results are today entirely automatic in application and effectiveness, and are regarded as functioning "below the threshold of the consciousness" of humanity, and necessarily of the Hierarchy. Its rhythm is established and its effects are well known and proven. The direction of this energy will eventually be in the hands of that great planetary center, Humanity; therefore, to mankind will then be committed the responsibility for its distribution to the subhuman kingdoms in nature.
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, P 655
The internal fires that animate and vitalize shew themselves in a twofold manner:
[...]
Second, as active heat. This results in the activity and the driving forward of material evolution. On the highest plane the combination of these three factors (active heat, latent heat and the primordial substance which they animate) is known as the 'sea of fire,' of which akasha is the first differentiation of pregenetic matter. Akasha, in manifestation, expresses itself as Fohat, or divine Energy, and Fohat on the different planes is known as aether, air, fire, water, electricity, ether, prana and similar terms. 9, 10, 11 It is the sumtotal of that which is active, animated, or vitalized, and of all that concerns itself with the adaptation of the form to the needs of the inner flame of life.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 43
There is Internal Vitalizing Fire, which is the correspondence to fire by friction. This is the sumtotal of individual kundalini; it animates the corporeal frame and demonstrates also in the twofold manner:
- First, as latent heat which is the basis of life of the spheroidal cell, or atom, and of its rotary adjustment to all other cells.
- Second, as active heat or prana; this animates all, and is the driving force of the evolving form. It shows itself in the four ethers and in the gaseous state, and a correspondence is here found on the physical plane in connection with man to the Akasha and its fivefold manifestation on the plane of the solar system.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 45In the etheric body, which is an exact replica of its denser counterpart, we have the organ of active or radiatory fire, and, as is well known, the vehicle of prana.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 57
That emanation of the planet which we might term Planetary Prana. It is that which is referred to when one speaks of the health-giving qualities of Mother Nature, and which is back of the cry of the modern physician, when he wisely says "Back to the Earth." It is the fluidic emanation of this prana which acts upon the physical body, though in this case not via the etheric body. It is absorbed through the skin purely and the pores are its line of least resistance.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 61
c. The Man. At the base of the spine lie hid the fires of the human system, or the internal fires of the Microcosm. The center is located there, and from it the radiations go forth along the three channels, recognizable in the spine.
- Bodily warmth, the channel along which the heat radiates...
- Nervous response. This is the vitalizing tenuous fluid which applies itself to the stimulation of the nervous centers...
- Pranic emanation. The emanation, via the etheric body, which corresponds in man to solar prana and to planetary prana. This demonstrates principally in the health aura and has naught to do with magnetic qualities, as generally interpreted when considering a personality, or man as a unit. I make this repetition as it is very necessary that no mental confusion exists between that magnetism which is a spiritual emanation and that which is purely animal.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 62In the study of the etheric body and prana lies the revelation of the effects of those rays of the sun which (for lack of better expression), we will call "solar pranic emanations." These solar pranic emanations are the produced effect of the central heat of the sun approaching other bodies within the solar system by one of the three main channels of contact, and producing on the bodies then contacted certain effects differing somewhat from those produced by the other emanations. These effects might be considered as definitely stimulating and constructive, and (through their essential quality) as producing conditions that further the growth of cellular matter, and concern its adjustment to environing conditions; they concern likewise the internal health (demonstrating as the heat of the atom and its consequent activity) and the uniform evolution of the form of which that particular atom of matter forms a constituent part. Emanative prana does little in connection with form building; that is not its province, but it conserves the form through the preservation of the health of its component parts. Other rays of the sun act differently, upon the forms and upon their substance. Some perform the work of the Destroyer of forms, and others carry on the work of cohering and of attracting; the work of the Destroyer and of the Preserver is carried on under the Law of Attraction and Repulsion. Some rays definitely produce accelerated motion, others produce retardation. The ones we are dealing with here - pranic solar emanations - work within the four ethers, that matter which (though physical) is not as yet objectively visible to the eye of man. They are the basis of all physical plane life considered solely in connection with the life of the physical plane atoms of matter, their inherent heat and their rotary motion. These emanations are the basis of that "fire by friction" which demonstrates in the activity of matter.
Finally, in the study of the etheric body and prana comes comprehension of the method of logoic manifestation, and therefore much of interest to the metaphysician, and all abstract thinkers. The etheric body of man holds hid the secret of his objectivity.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire P 78
The etheric body of man receives prana in different ways and of different kinds, and all these ways bring him into touch with varying entities.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 90
Solar Prana
This is that vital and magnetic fluid which radiates from the sun, and which is transmitted to man's etheric body through the agency of certain deva entities of a very high order, and of a golden hue. It is passed through their bodies and emitted as powerful radiations, which are applied direct through certain plexi in the uppermost part of the etheric body, the head and shoulders, and passed down...
...Man therefore repeats on a lesser scale the work of the great solar devas, and in his turn adds his quota of repolarized or remagnetized emanation to the sumtotal of the planetary aura.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 90
Planetary Prana
This is the vital fluid emanated from any planet, which constitutes its basic coloring or quality, and is produced by a repetition within the planet of the same process which is undergone in connection with man and solar prana. The planet (the Earth, or any other planet) absorbs solar prana, assimilates, what is required, and radiates off that which is not essential to its well-being in the form of planetary radiation. Planetary prana, therefore, is solar prana which has passed throughout the planet, has circulated through the planetary etheric body, has been transmitted to the dense physical planet, and has been cast off thence in the form of a radiation of the same essential character as solar prana, plus the individual and distinctive quality of the particular planet concerned. This again repeats the process undergone in the human body...
...Planetary emanative prana (as in the case of solar prana) is caught up and transmitted via a particular group of devas, called the "devas of the shadows," who are ethereal devas of a slightly violet hue.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 91
Primarily the functions of the etheric body are three in number:
- It is the receiver of prana.
- It is the assimilator of prana.
- It is the transmitter of prana.
The mysterious band in the heavens, which we call the Milky Way, (S. D. II. 250) is closely connected with cosmic prana, or that cosmic vitality or nourishment which vitalizes the solar etheric system.A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 97
Prana, therefore, which is active radiatory heat, varies in vibration and quality according to the receiving Entity. Man passes the prana through his etheric vehicle, colors it with his own peculiar quality, and so transmits it to the lesser lives that make up his little system Thus, the great interaction goes on, and all parts blend, merge and are interdependent; and all parts receive, color, qualify and transmit. An endless circulation goes on that has neither a conceivable beginning nor possible end from the point of view of finite man, for its source and end are hid in the unknown cosmic fount. Were conditions everywhere perfected this circulation would proceed unimpeded and might result in a condition of almost endless duration, but limitation and termination result as the effects of imperfection giving place to a gradual perfection. Every cycle originates from an other cycle of a relative completeness, and will give place ever to a higher spiral; thus eventuate periods of apparent relative perfection leading to those which are still greater.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, P 101
The love aspect shows itself through the heart, the circulatory system and the nervous system. This is in many ways most important for you to understand, for it controls paramountly the etheric body and its assimilation of prana or vitality. This prana works through both the blood and the nerves, for the life force uses the blood stream and psychic force works through the nervous system. These two departments of the human organism are those which cause the greatest amount of trouble at this time and will even more in the future.
Esoteric Healing, P 106
...The spleen, the organ of prana or of physical vitality coming from the sun...
Esoteric Healing P 177
Prana is the name given to the energy which is drawn upon the physical plane from the etheric aspect of all phenomenal life. That etheric aspect of the divine energy is a synthesis of energies. If the energy in which an individual primarily lives and moves and has the focus of his being is, for instance, predominantly astral, then the major expression of energy in his equipment will be astral or emotional feeling energy. He will react all the time to physical energy or prana and to astral energy or the many sentient emotional forces. These work out pre-eminently through the spleen, the solar plexus and the throat, and affect in different ways the physical spleen, the stomach and the thyroid gland.
Esoteric Healing, P 328
DK said, "You can discover much on the nature of prana if you use the books which you possess and should possess. In my book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, pages 77-116, and in A.A.B.'s book The Light of the Soul, pages 77, 217-225, 280-282, 328-330, 332, the whole subject is considered."
Ruth writes:
Life
Prana
"Prana (Sanskrit) [from pra before + the verbal root an to breathe, live]
In theosophy, the breath of life; the third principle in the ascending scale of the sevenfold human constitution. This life or prana works on, in, and around us, pulsating unceasingly during the term of physical existence. Prana is "the radiating force or Energy of Atma -- as the Universal Life and the One Self, -- Its lower or rather (in its effects) more physical, because manifesting, aspect. Prana or Life permeates the whole being of the objective Universe; and is called a 'principle' only because it is an indispensable factor and the deus ex machina of the living man" (Key 176).
......but strictly prana means outbreathing. ...
.....Hence Blavatsky said that jiva becomes prana when the child is born and begins to breathe."
http://www.theosoci ety.org/pasadena /etgloss/ pram-prj. htm
Bryan writes:
"Prana might be defined as the life-essence of every plane in the sevenfold area which we call the cosmic physical plane."
(Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle, page 155, by Alice A. Bailey)
[Begin Definition]
Prana:
Overall or generally speaking it appears that when the word Prana is used, it is used as meaning the sum total of all energy in "the body."
Here are some words and/or terms that are synonymous with Prana:
Vital Breath
Life Principle
The Life Principle Of Energy
Vital Animating Substance
Creative Fires
Creative Energy
Life Force
Radiatory Fires Of The Body
Active Radiatory Matter
Solar Rays
Vital Essence From The Sun
Life Currents
There are four basic types of prana spoken of in AAB/DK works: Cosmic, Solar, Planetary or Human (and Atomic). It appears that there is a hierarchial, top down "order of flow" of Prana -- with each "body" taking in the type and/or kind of Prana it is designed for, distributing and/or using it, and then radiating it to and for the next level below it.
Prana is essentially that energy/force which is received by the etheric body, and then transmitted to the dense physical body where it acts, among other things, as an "animating agent."
Prana creates the "health aura" of the human body.
"Heat" is the actual radiatory energy which man transmits as healing energy.
Prana is one of the seven principles that man needs to concern themselves with -- in this instance, the right use of Prana.
Prana is the lowest manifestation of constructive energy, in the manifestation of the Logoic Body.
Prana drives material evoluation forward.
Prana is part of the lower quaternary.
It appears that there is a strong and even direct correspondence to money, monetary exchange, and the "chrysallization" of prana.
It is one of the seven major types of energy used by The Hierarchy use to stimlate the "science of impression."
Prana is the way we and other "bodies" maintain "contact" with each other.
[End Of Definition]
What follows are quotations I encountered in the works/writings/ teachings of AAB/DK that I thought were helpful, or simply interesting:
[Begin Quotes]
"Prana is the sum total of the energy in the body (and this applies equally to the planetary and the solar body). It therefore concerns the inflow of energy into the etheric body and its outflow through the medium of the physical body. In the physical body this is symbolized for us in the necessary inspiration and exhalation of the breath. By stressing the physical act of breathing, much of the true sense of this sutra has been lost.
"Prana is not breath, though it is usually so translated. It is the sum total of the cosmic energy."
("The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 2," Page 218, by Alice A. Bailey)
"That emanation of the planet which we might term Planetary Prana. It is that which is referred to when one speaks of the health-giving qualities of Mother Nature, and which is back of the cry of the modern physician, when he wisely says 'Back to the Earth.' It is the fluidic emanation of this prana which acts upon the physical body, though in this case not via the etheric body. It is absorbed through the skin purely and the pores are its line of least resistance."
("A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," Page 61, by Alice A. Bailey)
"It is the misuse of the life breath or wrong utilization of prana that is the cause of eighty per cent of the present physical diseases. The other twenty per cent is produced through ill directed life force through the centers, and attacks primarily the twenty per cent of humanity which can be called mentally polarized. The clue for the student of occultism who aspires to liberation is not to be found in breathing exercises, however, nor in any work with the seven centers in the body. It will be found in an intense inner concentration upon rhythmic living and in the careful organization of the life. As he does this, coordination of the subtler bodies with the physical body on the one hand, and with the soul on the other, will eventuate in the automatic subsequent adjustment of pranic and vital energies."
("The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 1," Page 72, by Alice A. Bailey)
"The Pleiades - though they are regarded as embodying the matter aspect in manifestation - are in reality and literally the expression of that Principle of Life which we call vitality, prana in its various stages or degrees, ether or substance."
("Esoteric Astrology," Page 504, by Alice A. Bailey)
"The deva and human evolution will, during the next five hundred years, become somewhat more conscious of each other, and be able therefore more freely to cooperate. With this growing consciousness will be found a seeking after methods of communication. When the need of communication for constructive ends is sincerely felt, then, under the judicious guidance of the Masters, will certain of the old mantrams be permitted circulation. Their action, interaction and reaction will be closely studied and watched. It is hoped that the benefit to both groups will be mutual. The human evolution should give strength to the deva, and the deva, joy to the human. Man should communicate to the devas the objective point of view, while they in turn will pour in on him their healing magnetism. They are the custodians of prana, magnetism and vitality, just as man is the custodian of the fifth principle, or manas. I have given several hints here and more is not possible."
("Letters on Occult Meditation," Page 183, by Alice A. Bailey)
The thing that I forgot to add, is that while I am sure there is some quote somewhere in the works, writings and teachings of AAB/DK that states WHERE the/this "Cosmic Prana" come/eminates from, I didn't come across it, and can only guess that as "prana" is associated with "eminations" from "a/the sun," then I suspect that "Cosmic Prana" eminates/originates from the (Cosmic) or Esoteric (Spiritual) Sun -- or what is referred to as The One Great Life?
Tom writes:
I read that Prana is similar to chi. I remember reading that somewhere.
Bryan adds:
Previously I wrote:
"Then I suspect that 'Cosmic Prana' eminates/originates from the (Cosmic) or Esoteric (Spiritual) Sun -- or what is referred to as The One Great Life?"
But after researching the topic of "Agni" -- and learned of the/Its association with The Spiritual Sun, then, it -- Agni, The Lord Of Fire, may be the spiritual sun from which cosmic prana eminates/radiates.
Dunno for sure, tho.
I also forgot to include what I believe is an important quote from AAB/DK that describes Prana:
"One term applied to this energy [Prana] is the 'vital airs.' Prana is fivefold in its manifestation, thus corresponding to the five states of mind, the fifth principle and to the five modifications of the thinking principle. Prana in the solar system works out as the five great states of energy which we call planes, the medium of consciousness; these are:
"1. The atmic or spiritual plane,
"2. The buddhic or intuitional plane,
"3. The mental plane,
"4. The emotional, astral or kamic plane,
"5. The physical plane.
"The five differentiations of prana in the human body are:
"Prana, extending from the nose to the heart and having special relation to the mouth and speech, the heart and lungs.
"Samana extends from the heart to the solar plexus; it concerns food and the nourishing of the body through the medium of food and drink and has a special relation to the stomach.
"Apana controls from the solar plexus to the soles of the feet; it concerns the organs of elimination, of rejection and of birth, thus having special relation to the organs of generation and of elimination.
"Upana is found between the nose and the top of the head; it has a special relation to the brain, the nose and the eyes, and when properly controlled produces the coordination of the vital airs and their correct handling.
"Vyana is the term applied to the sum total of pranic, energy as it is distributed evenly throughout the entire body. Its instruments are the thousands of nadis or nerves found in the body, and it has a peculiar definite connection with the blood channels, the veins and arteries."
("The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 3," pgs 329-330, by AAB)